Mother invented 17 children to collect £30,000 in benefits

Last updated at 10:39 23 July 2007

A mother who conned £30,000 in benefits by inventing 17 children has been spared jail as she suffers from post-natal depression and is pregnant with her third child.

Charlene Ostle claimed that by the age of 26 she had given birth to three sets of twins and two sets of triplets. At one point Ostle became so confused she told officials she had given birth to five children in three months.

At Carlisle Crown Court the barmaid, of Dearham, Cumbria, admitted nine charges of fraudulent activity between December 2003 and September 2006.

Recorder Arthur Noble said he was sparing her prison as an act of mercy and imposed a nine month jail term, suspended for two years.

The court heard that between April 2005 and December last year Ostle illegally claimed £18,893 in child tax credits. She must repay another £11,500 which had also been fraudulently claimed.

Giles Bridge, prosecuting for HM Revenue & Customs, told how Ostle made more than 400 calls to the tax credit helpline to amend the size of her fictitious family. In December 2003, while living in Cockermouth, she worked at a nursing home and submitted a genuine claim for child tax credit.

But within weeks she told officials that all of the children she was caring for were suffering from disabilities relating to diabetes. This allowed her to claim a higher level of tax credits, boosting her income.

During 2005 she said that six of the children she was caring for were her sisters. She was also, she claimed, looking after three of her own children, including her real daughter, now four.

Mr Bridge said: 'At that stage she was claiming tax credit for nine children. If she had maintained her claim for the whole year, she would have been entitled to £51,000, which would have been £760 per week.'

The highest number of children Ostle claimed for at any one time was ten.

Alison Whalley, defending, said her client endured a lack of support from her partner and that, combined with pride, left her unable to ask for help.

Revenue and Customs spokesman Joanne Pennington said: 'Those who think they can beat the system will be caught and brought to justice.'